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A review by novi
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
I didn't expect to love this book lol
What I like about it:
- It reads so fast
- The world building is not perfect, it could be better, but it was enough to be able to follow the story. Like I don't have to 100% understand everything that's happening (for someone that is not very often read fantasy, this could be overwhelming).
- The characters! I wasn't convinced at first, but slowly they took my heart :') My favorites are Dex, Keefe, Sophie, Elwin, and Marella (she needs more screen time!!).
- The emotional scenes got me emotional. There are a lot of family and parents-children relationship dynamic here, and it's one of the themes that will most likely make me cry (I didn't though, but I teared up several times)
- Sophie as the main character is a believable 12 year old. She's smart but she's also too good (she can't bear the thought of getting caught cheating, like...). She's actually not that special as a main character but she's not annoying and I think we can be friends. My favorite moment of her is when she got angry. I love it lol
- I've been looking for a book that is kinda similar with Hex Hall and I think this kinda is, at least the school part, I think it's because of the unusual lessons, the embarrassing PE class, and the cute boys around Sophie.
What I don't like about it:
- The setting and the atmosphere. It simply is not cozy in my head. I imagine it to be full of crystal and pastel color, not homey at all.
- The author doesn't really describe how the places look like. This type of description could be boring if too much, but I think in this book is too little.
- I don't trust the parents in this book lmao. They're incompetent, unreliable, and sus. I still didn't trust [redacted] until like 90% of the book. About Grady and Edaline...... I don't think it's fair putting a 12 year old girl as a....trauma healer (?) for these adults.
- There are a lot of parental figure involvement in this book and I think these type of adventure stories is fun when parents are not involved. The heroes should be these kids with the same age lol I think that part is the best part of this book, but there weren't many here.
- The third act wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping for. Like I said, I was hoping for the kids to be more involved and the adult protagonists to be more competent.
What I like about it:
- It reads so fast
- The world building is not perfect, it could be better, but it was enough to be able to follow the story. Like I don't have to 100% understand everything that's happening (for someone that is not very often read fantasy, this could be overwhelming).
- The characters! I wasn't convinced at first, but slowly they took my heart :') My favorites are Dex, Keefe, Sophie, Elwin, and Marella (she needs more screen time!!).
- The emotional scenes got me emotional. There are a lot of family and parents-children relationship dynamic here, and it's one of the themes that will most likely make me cry (I didn't though, but I teared up several times)
- Sophie as the main character is a believable 12 year old. She's smart but she's also too good (she can't bear the thought of getting caught cheating, like...). She's actually not that special as a main character but she's not annoying and I think we can be friends. My favorite moment of her is when she got angry. I love it lol
- I've been looking for a book that is kinda similar with Hex Hall and I think this kinda is, at least the school part, I think it's because of the unusual lessons, the embarrassing PE class, and the cute boys around Sophie.
What I don't like about it:
- The setting and the atmosphere. It simply is not cozy in my head. I imagine it to be full of crystal and pastel color, not homey at all.
- The author doesn't really describe how the places look like. This type of description could be boring if too much, but I think in this book is too little.
- I don't trust the parents in this book lmao. They're incompetent, unreliable, and sus. I still didn't trust [redacted] until like 90% of the book. About Grady and Edaline...... I don't think it's fair putting a 12 year old girl as a....trauma healer (?) for these adults.
- There are a lot of parental figure involvement in this book and I think these type of adventure stories is fun when parents are not involved. The heroes should be these kids with the same age lol I think that part is the best part of this book, but there weren't many here.
- The third act wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping for. Like I said, I was hoping for the kids to be more involved and the adult protagonists to be more competent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Grief